History

Dutchess County Interfaith Council working
together since 1972

The
Dutchess (County) Interfaith Council was formed in the early 1970's by forward
thinking members of the Dutchess County Council of Churches. The Council
of Churches was formed in 1946 with a membership of 24 Christian Protestant
churches, brought together for the purpose of ecumenical co-operation.
One participant in the sessions for approval of the constitution of the new
ecumenical Council of Churches was Rev. Henry Smith Leiper, who stated, “the
world which is now a physical neighborhood must become a spiritual community -
else destruction of civilization confronts humanity.”

In the nearly
three decades of its existence, the Council of Churches sought to unite the
various Christian denominations to promote local interests and confront community
issues such as race relations, public housing, social action, religious
education, prison chaplaincy, prisoner re-entry and draft
counseling. In 1958, First Lady Mrs. Eleanor Roosevelt was a key
speaker at a public assembly where Dutchess County Council of Churches Vice President, Mrs. John Mulford Hackett
presented her with a Resolution of Regard. The subject of the assembly
was “New Approaches to Peace in the Nuclear Age.”

The Formation of the Dutchess County Interfaith Council

In February of 1971 the Ecumenical Joint Study Committee was
formed by the Council of Churches in an effort to plan “for a more inclusive vehicle for
cooperative religious endeavor in the county.” This was a very strong
committee composed of 20 representatives of many different congregations including
Rabbi Henry
Bamberger, Rev. Karl A. Bauer, Rev. Rev. Ernest R. Falardeau,
Rev. Hugh F. Miller and his wife Martha, Rev. Richard S. Parker, Rev.
Joseph M.
Pernicone, Charles E. Rich and Rev. Paul H. Rutgers.The group's work also enjoyed the enthusiastic Blessing of Rabbi Erwin
Zimet.

On May 2nd, 1972, the Constituting Assembly of the Dutchess (County) Interfaith Council was held at Holy Trinity Roman Catholic Church in Poughkeepsie. Fifty-four representatives from area congregations were present and spirits were high; a banner above the doorway leading into
the meeting read: “Love Has Brought Us Together”. This statement became the
defining message of the newly formed Interfaith Council. Dutchess County Council of Churches
President, Charles E. Rich noted at the Council of Churches’ Concluding
Assembly, “so the Council of Churches must now decrease in order that the
Dutchess Interfaith Council may now increase.”The newly formed Council had 70 charter congregations.

Executive Minister of the Council of Churches, Rev. Hugh Miller,
formally stepped down from his position, his wife Martha S. Miller took the position of
Executive Director of the Interfaith Council following a nationwide search for candidates. Mrs. Miller held this position
for 18 years, during which the Interfaith Council developed many programs that
built on the mission of the Council of Churches, and developed many new
programs.

Programs of the Dutchess County Interaith Council

During its first year the Interfaith Council established
Project Gateway, a re-entry program for persons incarcerated in the Dutchess
County Jail. It later became an independent non-profit as did
the Interfaith Volunteer Caregivers Program, an organization formed by the
Council to enable frail elderly people to remain in their own homes by offering
telephone support and transportation to appointments and shopping.

In the wake of the end of the Vietnam war in 1975, the
Interfaith Council established the Interfaith Refugee Resettlement Task Force
which attempted to assist those sponsoring refugees as well as the affected
men, women and children themselves. Over 350 Vietnamese, Laotian
and Cambodian refugees were resettled in the Mid-Hudson area.

The Interfaith Dialogue program began in 1974 with
discussions on interfaith-harmony hosted in participants’ living rooms.
These gatherings enabled people of faith to come together and exchange
information and personal views on faith in a non-threatening atmosphere. In
recent years these programs were held in houses of worship around the County.

Also in 1974 the DCIC organized The Ecumenical Singles. TES
welcomed young people of all faiths and ages over eighteen. Activities
included picnics, square dances, theater parties, camping weekends and holiday
mixers.

Since 1975 the DCIC Interfaith Music Festival has provided
the County with the occasion to share their unique musical traditions.
Throughout its history the Festival has highlighted various talented
individuals and
groups including children’s choruses and an interfaith
choir. 2010
marked the 35th Music Festival which was
held at Bethel Missionary Baptist Church of Wappingers Falls and raised over
$3000 for the work of the Council.

In 1976 the first CROP Walk to fight hunger was held
in the City of Poughkeepsie. 325 walkers raised $7470.84 and walked 10
miles. Today, the CROP Walk is one of the Council’s most consistently
successful programs. In 2009, over 450 walkers participated (walking 10 km./6.8
miles) and raising over $55,000 for Church World Service and local agencies
including Dutchess Outreach.

In 1980 the Council established an Oil Purchase Group
with local heating oil providers which allowed area congregations to buy oil
for their houses of worship at a discounted rate. Today over 100
congregations and non-profits benefit from the DCIC OPG, in cooperation with
Love/Effron.

For many years the Interfaith Council organized a Houses of
Worship Tour for residents of the County. This program discussed the many
facets of church and temple architecture, polity and theological vision.

In the 1990’s, several Youth Events were sponsored by DCIC
which have stressed creativity, tolerance and openness to religious
diversity. On-going efforts have focused dialog and social action to
bring about greater understanding of the problems that divide us and ways in
which barriers might be overcome by interfaith friendship.

Beginning in 2000 the DCIC has held an annual Poverty Forum
to address the issues of the poor in our community and the ways in which faith
leaders and local agencies can and do address the problem. In 2010 the
Poverty Forum was held at Beulah Baptist Church. DCIC President, Theresa
Giovanniello, led a panel discussion on advocating for the poor.

The Dutchess County Interfaith Council Today

Rev.
Gail Burger became Executive Director of DCIC in 1991 when
Martha Miller retired. Gail stayed with DCIC for 15 years, building on
the
foundations established years before. In 2005 the Council
received a
grant from the Dyson Foundation to fund a Plan for the Future of the
organization. Ed Koziol, former Treasurer of the DCIC Board of
Directors, became Executive Director in 2009 and stepped down in 2014.
Our current Executive Director of DCIC, Clare J. Chapman is working
with the Board of Directors
to insure the success of that Plan.

In 1976 the Dutchess County Interfaith Council moved its
office from the United Way building in the City of Poughkeepsie where the
Council of Churches’ office had
been housed, to the Cunneen-Hackett Cultural
Center at 9 Vassar Street. After four years at the Family
Partnership Center at 29 N. Hamilton St., the DCIC office moved back
to Cunneen-Hackett in the spring of 2011.

Today,Dutchess County is home to over 30 different faith
groups and over 200 houses of worship. During this past decade, the
Mid-Hudson Islamic Association and Masjid Al-Noor, the Hindu Samaj and Cultural Center and Kagyu
Thubten Choling Tibetan Buddhist Monastery have been added to the Council’s
Membership. The DCIC is one of the oldest, continuous interfaith organizations in the U.S.

For nearly four decades the Dutchess County Interfaith
Council has brought people of faith together to make a difference in our
community, while promoting tolerance through education. DCIC’s first
President of the Board of Directors, Rev. Ernest R. Falardeau, noted in
his President’s Report in 1973, “Enthusiasm, hope and courage mark our humble
beginnings. Noble deeds must chart our future history, if we are to long
endure and meet the challenge of our times.”

Prepared by Faith Adams with help from Father Brian Mc Weeney’s “Reflections on
the Dutchess Interfaith Council Inc., 1997.” Edited by Martha S. Miller,
Gail A. Burger and Edward A. Koziol. Sources include DCIC official
transcripts.

Interfaith Activity in Dutchess County, NY

The following excerpt was recorded on The Pluralism
Project web site in 2003.

June 15, 2003 the Poughkeepsie Journal
reported that
"Dutchess County [NY] truly is a melting pot of religious faiths -- and
religious tolerance... 'In many ways the county is very diverse and it
breeds tolerance,' said Michael Tori, a religion professor at Marist
College... The county may be nearly three-
fourths Roman Catholic, but not one faith dominates, he said... 'For
the most part, there has been a very good-hearted attempt at tolerance
among these diverse groups,' said the Rev. Bruce Chilton, rector of St.
John the Evangelist in Barrytown and a religion professor at Bard
College. He is also executive director of the Institute of Advanced
Theology. 'When you consider the extent of diversity there is, there is
remarkably little friction...' 'Interacting with people of other faiths
makes you reflect,' Chilton said. 'To be in peaceful dialogue with
others is extremely healthy. Any community... is enriched by the wisdom
of all those varying traditions...' While there were numerous reports
of bias against Muslims nationwide following the Sept. 11, 2001,
terrorist attacks, there was little of that in Dutchess, Tori said...
The Dutchess Interfaith Council, which includes many local clergy,
works hard to foster tolerance... The 96-member council was established
in 1972, an outgrowth of the Dutchess County Council of Churches, which
at the time was an organization of only Protestant churches. The
council, which seeks to bring congregations together to address
community issues, has a mailing list of 214 congregations."
(June 15, 2003, Poughkeepsie Journal, Online)